Frommer's Scotland 8th Edition - To Parent Directory

442APPENDIX . SCOTLAND IN DEPTHHow the Scots Say Itaber river mouthach fieldaird promontoryalt streamauch fieldauld oldbaillie magistratebal hamlet or tiny villageben peak, often ruggedbirk birch treebrae hillside, especially along a riverbrig bridgebroch circular stone towerburn streamcairn heap of stone piled up as memorial or landmarkceilidh Scottish hoedown with singing, music, and tall talesclach stoneclachan hamletclose narrow passage leading from the street to a court or tenementcraig rockcreel basketcroft small farm worked by a tenant, often with hereditary rightscromlech, dolmen prehistoric tomb or monument consisting of a largeflat stone laid across upright stonesdram1 ⁄8 fluid ouncedrum ridgedun fortress, often in a lake, for refuge in times of troubleeas waterfalleilean islandfactor manager of an estatefell hillfirth arm of the sea reaching inlandMost of the clans were organized during two distinctly different eras of Scottishhistory. One of the country’s oldest and largest is Clan Donald, whose originalorganization occurred during the early mists of the Christianization ofScotland and whose headquarters has traditionally been Scotland’s northwesterncoast and western islands. The fragmentation of Clan Donald into subdivisions(which include the Sleat, the Dunyveg, the Clanranald, and the Keppoch clans)happened after the violent battles of succession over control of the clan in the1400s. These feuds so weakened the once powerful unity of the MacDonaldsthat a new crop of former vassal tribes in northwestern Scotland declared theirindependence and established new clans of their own. These included the Mackintoshes,the Macleans, the MacNeils, the Mackinnons, and the MacLeods.